Susan Boyle

14/12/2009

The reality star reveals her one true dream is to find the right person...

Scotland’s singing sensation has made history with the best-selling debut album in UK chart history. Susan Boyle tells The Big Issue how she’s overcome loneliness, bullying and her parents’ death to make it to the top... and reveals all she wants for Christmas is to be loved

Big Issue: Do you understand why your tremendous story has connected with so many people?
Susan Boyle: I don’t know. It’s an unusual story. I was often left behind at school because of one thing or another. I was a slow learner. I’m just a wee bit slower at picking things up. So you get left behind in a system that just wants to rush on. This feels like a good way of making up for that. I think teachers are [now] taught to understand children with learning disabilities a lot better. 

BI: What do you think it was about you particularly that people became so instantly fascinated by?
SB: It’s a hard one to put into context, probably the fact that I’m an ordinary person who came from a poor background and through fate… I was able to rise up from that. I know it’s a cliché but it’s a bit of a Cinderella story. Put it this way, a woman who went on [Britain’s Got Talent] with mad hair, bushy eyebrows and the frock I was wearing had to be noticed. Come on!

BI: What was it like living in Blackburn at that time?
SB: The hype that went on I didn’t really get… strangers writing to me every day. Blackburn became kind of manic. There were satellite TV companies at my door every day. The neighbourhood turned out to be a very good community. They were very supportive. People would offer to do my shopping for me, who I’d never spoken to in my life before.

BI: Some of the newspapers were less than lovely. How did that feel?
SB: It felt a wee bit hurtful and I’m sure if I read everything I would’ve become a wee bit paranoid but you have to take it all with a pinch of salt. I’m getting used to it now. I’m the wee wifey with the mop and the cat next door. I went from being an unknown, nobody bothering me on the streets, to all these headlines with things like “The hairy angel”. The pressure of that I found a bit suffocating.

BI: How is Pebbles?
SB: Pebbles is doing great, thank you. My cat has been called Pebbles, she’s been called Bubbles, she’s been called Peebles, they always get it wrong.

BI: How have you coped without your parents (Susan’s dad, Patrick, passed away 10 years ago and mum, Bridget, died in 2007)?
SB: After mum died it didn’t fully register until maybe six months after when the loneliness set in and there was nobody around except my cat. My confidence was pretty down. A good way of levelling it out, I found, was to tell myself that even though she’s not here physically… mentally and spiritually she is. I have my faith, which is the backbone of who I am. My mum was the reason I pursued singing. We’d seen a soloist on the TV just before she passed and I said: “Is that what you want me to do, mum?” And she said: “Yes”. I decided to do something about it. I couldn’t straight away because the bereavement hit me hard. But I’m getting over that slowly and putting my promise into practice. The dream my father [Patrick Boyle was a miner and pub singer] had of becoming a singer is coming true through me so I think he’d be proud.

BI: Were there times in your life where you couldn’t trust people?
SB: Well everybody goes through a bit in their life where they can’t trust, or maybe they’re very scared of people and maybe they’re very apprehensive of where they’re going next, and I felt that way before my mother died so I turned to my faith. 

BI: What was it like growing up in such a large family (Susan is the youngest of nine children)?
SB: My brother Joe was a songwriter. My dad used to sing. My mother sang and played piano. I have two sisters that are very good singers. We were a wee bit like the Von Trapps!

BI: Are your memories of growing up outside of music happy?
SB: They’re mixed, like everybody else’s. The majority of my childhood was quite happy until I started getting bullied at school. They used to knock me about a bit and try and make me cry. I didn’t think I could trust anybody and it made me a sitting target. By the time I got to secondary school I wasn’t sure who was my friend or enemy. I did try and speak to people but they made fun of me.

BI: Was music a release from this?
SB: Oh aye, it was a complete emotional release. I had a slight disability and instead of saying ‘right, I have this disability’ and concentrating on it I had to find my abilities and concentrate on that instead. Singing was the one thing I was good at. Music was my escape and my brother bought me lots of LPs. I was daft about The Osmonds. I used to go up to my bedroom and play records, I could be who I wanted to be. I used to imagine myself singing to an audience. It was my safe haven. Even at 13 I would see people singing on the TV and wanted to be in that position and entertain people.

BI: At what point did you know you were going to make a record?
SB: I wasn’t sure until after the show. Simon Cowell knew my dream was to make a record and he said if I still wanted to do it then he would offer me a deal. You don’t get that every lifetime, do you? Thanks Simon! I kept expecting someone to say: “Ha ha love, we’re kidding.”

BI: ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ had to be on the album…
SB: Obviously. But a lot of the ones that moved me surprised me. ‘Wild Horses’ was like that. I just didn’t expect it to suit my voice as much as it did. 

BI: How was America’s Got Talent?
SB: It was one of the most incredible things I’ve done, if not the most incredible. When I was getting make-up on Piers Morgan came in to say hello, and I’ve always had a soft spot for wee Piersy. He said: “You’re a serious artist now.” I went to LA and there were crowds waiting for us at the airport. For heaven’s sake! What have I done? The hotel I was staying in? Apparently Frank Sinatra used to take his women back there! Talk about ‘Strangers In The Night’, eh? 

BI: You’ve undergone a bit of transformation, when you look in the mirror now what do you see?
SB: I brush up quite well! It’s a bit like a cygnet to a swan. I keep reading I’ve had Botox, teeth whitening, but I haven’t. I’ve been working hard and lost weight.

BI: How old are you?
SB: [Whispers] 48. It’s only a number, for goodness sake!

BI: What is your biggest fear?
SB: Everybody has fears but mine is probably that this will all disappear. I want it to keep going as long as possible. If it did all go away tomorrow, I know that I’ve enjoyed every moment of living the dream now.

BI: The girl that dreamed a dream, what does she dream about now? 
SB: I dream about security, I dream about one day finding the right person and continuing to make people happy with my music. 

Susan Boyle’s record-breaking album I Dreamed A Dream (SyCo) is out now. For an extended interview with the singer go to bigissuescotland.com